Cheat-Codes To Life
by MeEqualsTrash
Summary: Francis B. Spring is just your average, everyday guy. Well, he's biologically a girl, but is much rather prefered as male. Anyways, he may be average in the real world, but in VR, he's one of the most feared players out there. Explore Francis' life as you see how he changes from his comfortable home in VR, to the place he likes being the least. Rated M for violence and language.
1. The First Glimpse Of Everything

**Codex: Well, I think this should be interesting.**

 **Siel: Are you seriously posting another story?**

 **Codex: What do you mean?**

 **Siel: I mean, you just posted a new story like a few days ago.**

 **Codex: No I didn't *looks in the opposite direction***

 **Siel: H- You know what, I don't care anymore.**

 **Luci: Aw, but that's no fun.**

 **Codex: I know, right?**

 **Siel: Oh, shut up.**

 **Codex: Well, let's get to the story I guess.**

 **~x1x~ First Impressions Are Everything**

"Link, start!"

I was pulled into virtual reality, detaching myself from the real world. All the digital colors passed from my field of vision and it turned into a white, colorless background. Soon, I was looking up at the gray and blue sky of a city. The landscape was nothing more than buildings, gang ridden streets, and it left the taste of brown in your mouth.

"Ah, GGO, you never seem to change. Welp, let's go get some spray paint and enter another BOB. See just how many players think I'm cheating or something."

I walked through the polluted streets until I was meet with a run-down building that was only one story high. The building had a small, spray painted sign on the front of it, if that could even be considered a sign, that said ' _From Above, To Below_ ' in black and white.

I walked through the front door, accompanied by the sound of a small bell chime. The room wasn't very big, it just had a few items on the walls, a grandfather clock, and a man behind a counter at the far end of the room.

"Hey, this isn't a store for someone like you, little boy. Now, hurry along."

This is what I love about my avatar. It's an FT3000 model, which basically means I look like a short boy, which is really funny when I beat someone into the ground. Oh, it's so much fun to see the look on their face when they realize a "tiny little boy" just beat them.

"Oh, so you must be new than?"

"Yeah. But it doesn't take a professional to put together that a 12 year old shouldn't be here. Now, get."

"What, are you intimidated or something? Scared of me?"

"HA, you think **I'm** afraid of **you**? I'd kill you in five seconds in a 1v1."

"Is that a challenge I hear?"

"What, you think you can beat me?"

"How about this; we do a battle and, if you win, I leave and never show my face again, since I seem to be pissing you off a bit. But, if I win, you let me stay and do my business. Got a deal?"

"Fine by me, I like to see kids like you put in their place."

"Alright, let's go than. I know a place we can battle in. You should know it, you do work here after all."

"What do you mean? Are you saying you know this place for what it actually is?"

"Of course. Why do you think I came here in the first place?"

I started to walk over to the grandfather clock, leaving the other guy with his mouth slightly ajar. Once I was in front of the clock, I adjusted the hands so that the hour hand was pointed at the 5 and the minute hand between the 7 and 8. After doing so, I pulled the swinging pendulum down, resulting in the clock to move backwards, showing I had successfully done what I had set out to do. After the clock completely moved back, it slid up, revealing an elevator below it.

I hopped inside the room and waited patiently for the man.

Once he was completely in, he started another conversation. "So, 3'rd floor I'm guessing?"

"Nope, 7'th."

"I thought the 3'rd floor had the arena."

"It does. The 7'th floor is for gambling battles."

"Oh, so you want to die with people watching. I got it. 7'th floor it is than."

Once he pressed the 7 button, the room slowly made it's descent.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided started up a conversation. "So, what's your name? I can't just keep calling you man or guy."

"Ugh, James." He verbally rolled his eyes. I could tell in his voice that he didn't want to waste his "precious time" battling a kid with no brains.

"Well, you sound enthused."

"You gonna tell me your name, or what?"

"What."

"What?"

"Look, you'll find out once we get down there. Which is right here."

The cart slowly revealed a room filled with the sounds of money hitting tables and the scent of cigar smoke and alcohol. I took a deep breathe in, held it for a second, and exhaled.

"Ah, this scent never gets old."

"Yeah, yeah. Now look, see the bartender over there with the green hair and black vest? That's Lenny. Tell him that we're-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I already walked off to Lenny, completely ignoring James' talk.

"Yo, L-ho."

"Alright, who said that? I swear, if I hear that name one more time, I'm going to-"

"Don't worry, it's just me."

"Oh, it's just you. What can I do for you?"

"Got a nooby here. Anybody using the arena?"

His straight face immediately lit up when he heard me say arena. "Nope, I'll get it set up. You want to go get changed?"

"Naw, I'll do it on the field. Got any new patrons since I was last here?"

"Yep, a lot actually. Well, I'll get it set up. You bring the guy to the grounds. You can make yourself a drink while we get it set. What drop do you want?"

"First impressions are normally good with 5, so let's do that."

"Okay, see you after he dies."

We waved off to each other, signaling that it was soon time for us to battle. So, I gestured for James to come over to where I was sitting. As he walked to me, he wore the same face he had when he first saw me do the thing with the clock. Once he sat next to me, I jumped over the counter.

"What, do you know how to make drinks too?"

"Want to test that before we go at it?"

"Just give me an Old Fashioned."

"Oh, don't want anything fancy?"

"Just make it."

"Hey, can I get a drink here?" I heard from the other side of the table.

I slid to the man and gestured for him to tell what he wanted. "A Rattlesnake Cocktail."

"I'll take A Kicker" A woman next to him said.

"Girlfriend?"

"Wife." He said with much prowess.

"Nice Adam. Glad you finally have a Misses. Let me make your drinks. Anyone else want a drink?"

"A Hill Topper please."

"A Cizzle Bizzle."

"A Bronx Silver Cocktail."

"Two Manhattans over here."

When I heard a few seconds of silence, I concluded that that was everyone's drinks called. So, I ran all the way across the floor behind the bar, making sure I had all the ingredients and the right glasses and shakers. After confirming I had all the right stuff, I did my own dance of pouring things into cups, catching glass before it hit the floor, juggling glasses filled with liquid, pouring the finished drinks into their correct glasses, garnishing them, and then proceeding to throw them right in front of the respected owners of the drinks.

After the last glass hit the table, the crowd that accumulated erupted in applause and cheers. I gratefully took them, and did myself a bow. Once the crowd drained back to the few people at the front of the bar, I hopped back over the bar, taking my seat next to James, who still wore that ajar mouth.

"But you're just a kid."

I chuckled, "Alright, you can finish your drink once our battle's done. Let's go down to the grounds, they should be done by now."

I walked through the crowds of people, stopping every few seconds to make sure James was still following me. When we made it to the stairs, he said he knew where to go from here, so he took the lead. Once we got a few levels down, I told him to go down without me.

"Why? Want to see if you can find your way without my help or something?"

"No, I just want to do something before we start. Now, go on ahead. You said you know how to get down there, so don't be late."

Before he had time to respond, I left him through one of the doors to the stairwell.

When I exited the stairwell, I found myself on one of the floors used for viewing the arena when in use. Looking around, I saw something I don't normally see: almost all the seats being occupied. However, I did manage to find a vacant seat close to the rails.

After sitting in my seat for a few minutes, the room went dim, signaling that it was about to start. From the center of the arena, a small platform rose up with a person on it. It was L-ho.

"Hello to all my wonderful patrons. We have a very good show for you today. By the amount of people here, I think you know who one of our contestants are. But, before we get to them, let's get to the other one. Today, we have James Peterson. He is sporting an… oh… he'll be rocking a PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II. This'll be a fun battle."

After saying that, one of the walls lifted up and revealed James with his rifle on his back and a pistol at his side. Above him, there was a screen that displayed all his stats and a picture of what he looked like. He had black hair and had a camo vest with a bunch of extra pockets and stuff, and on his back was his his sniper rifle with a pistol on his side.

HP: 1496/1496

Name: James Franklin Peterson

Stage: N/A

Rank: Soldier

Level: 36

Primary: **PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II**

Secondary: **FN Five-Seven**

Wins: 28

Loses: 46

"And now, the main man, the reason most of you are here. Francis Spring, but you all know him by his stage name. The Colored Blade of the Future's Angel!"

After he said that, I rose from my seat, a spotlight immediately pinpointing my location. I jumped from my spot onto the arena, only accompanied by the sound of erupting applause. An identical screen to James' appeared above. In the picture, I was dressed in a white tailcoat with my hands in my pockets. On the actual coat, there were multiple splatters of paint on it and even a streak of paint that looked like it was sprayed on. Now, in the picture, I had my pure white hair covering my face so all you could see was one of my eyes, which were a deep blue. And my hair also had splatters of paint on it, similar to the coat. That however, wasn't the interesting part. What was, was the stats I had.

HP: 287/287

Name: Francis Brian Spring

Stage: The Colored Blade of the Future's Angel

Rank: N/A

Level: N/A

Primary: **Искатель**

Secondary: **Цветные Пули** and **Окрашенные лезвия**

Wins: N/A

Losses: 1

Now, a few things stand out. Going from top to bottom; I only have an HP level of 287. That already seems off. A normal HP bar, even when you first start the game up, is at least 800 something. But, with the make and model I have, body wise, it's drastically decreased.

Anyways, skipping down to rank, that's when you know you've picked the wrong fight. Now, people would think that N/A can only mean the lowest possible thing, right? Wrong, the exact opposite, actually. It means that you have a number, or rank in this case, that is so far off the charts that it is incalculable. This also applies for level and wins.

So then, there's primary and secondary. That means what your primary weapon and secondary weapon, or weapons, is. Now, it normally just says the name of the weapon that you have. But, my weapons don't really have a name. Or, more specifically, the names they do have aren't

[Bam info.]

I lifted my head up, keeping a calm face on. I walked towards the center, but stopped about halfway.

"Is it just me, or is there something I'm missing?" I asked in a sarcastically dumbfounded voice.

Immediately, I heard many people yell, "THE COVER!"

"Oh, right."

After hearing that, I opened my inventory, looking for the only piece of white clothing I had, even if it did have a splash of color on it. Once I found it, I picked it out and it turned into a small ball. I threw it into the air with little effort, only enough so I had time to pose before it hit me. Once it did hit me, it unraveled into a flowing white coat that had my primary and secondary weapons. Well, primary item.

[You'll understand once you see it.]

I made my way to the center of the arena where James and L-ho were standing. Once I was there, L-ho went on with his announcements before the fight. "Now, in a moment, you'll see a notice pop up. That is what will be used to gamble. Insert the amount you want to give and for what player. Whatever you pay, you'll get back, and then some, if that person wins."

From the audience, I heard a few "ooh's" and "ah's" being exerted. "However, if the person you voted for loses, half is given to the winners and the other half goes back to the winner. Now, you can also chose the option to give an amount and give it to the winner of the fight. It isn't too broadly used, but a few do like that choice. Now, insert your money's worth."

"And, one more thing, FATB is not liable for any currency lost in transit. It has only happened once, and we were able to get that patron's money back to them, but we do need to notify you of that. Now, feel free to give how much you want."

After he said that, I heard a bunch of dinging, indicating that people already had their desired amount of money input. "Now normally, we let the challenger pick the battlegrounds, but I felt that it would be nice to let a reigning champ, that's been out for a while, to pick it. So, when he first came to me earlier today, we conversed, and we chose battle arena number five, or more commonly known as 'The City Playground,' for those who don't already know."

Again, I could hear a few "ooh's" and "ah's" but I could also hear a few people cheering in the audience. I can't blame them though, it's a very aesthetically pleasing place to just look at. That is, if you're into falling buildings, crumbled statues, and stuff of that nature.

"Now, I don't think you want to be waiting any longer than you have to. So, how about we get to seeing a master at his craft. Let's get the field set, and then we get to the fun part. Would our 'contestants' please make their way to the east hallway door."

I started my way to the open gate, making sure I looked as badass as possible. I mean, first impressions are everything, after all.

* * *

 **Siel: Jeez, have you ever written that much before?**

 **Codex: Not yet, I don't think.**

 **Luci: Well, good for you.**

 **Codex: Thanks, at least someone is appreciating it.**

 **Siel: Oh, shut up.**

 **Codex: Well, if you guys enjoyed, or didn't enjoy, let me know by leaving a comment down below.**

 **Siel: You're beginning to sound like a Youtuber.**

 **Codex: *looks to the ground* You're right.**

 **Luci: How about you do some sort of shout-out or something?**

 **Codex: Hey, that's not actually a bad idea.**

 **Luci: Thank you.**

 **Codex: Well, if you want a shout-out, leave a comment down below of what your favorite story of mine is and even what your favorite chapter it was. I'll randomly select a winner and say the name at the end of each of my chapters. And, it won't be just for this story, I'll do it for all of them.**

 **Siel: Well, I think it's about time to wrap this up.**

 **Codex: I agree.**

 **Luci: Peace**

 **Siel: Later**

 **Codex: And, until next time, Libraries...**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Siel: Still sucks.**

 **Codex: SHUT. UP!**


	2. An Easy Battle

**Siel: Yay, this story.**

 **Codex: Are you being sarcastic?**

 **Siel: No, I seriously like this story.**

 **Codex: Really?**

 **Siel: What, am I not allowed to enjoy someone else's life while mine is on hiatus?**

 **Codex: *shrugs* Fair enough.**

 **Siel: Well, I wanna see what Francis does now.**

 **Codex: Okay. See you guys at the end of the chapter.**

 **Siel: Peace.**

* * *

 **~x2x~ An Easy Battle**

The City Playground, probably one of the most dangerous places that you can choose from. Now, over time, after adapting to the surroundings of this specific arena, it becomes gradually less dangerous. But, newcomers are definitely at a disadvantage. The buildings will crumble to the ground if you are walking on parts where the structural integrity is weak, which is a double red flag for the one who brings it down. First, there's a chance you end the game right there. Second, it gives away your location. But hey, at least you get a cool scenery.

I walked around the ground, not really trying to do anything at the moment. "It's been so long since I've done one of these. Hope I'm still good." I said to myself, waiting to see if James was near me and would try to shoot me out. That would be a no.

So, my strategic and tactical side taking over, I walked over to behind a building. Once behind there, I looked at every nook and cranny to make sure that James was nowhere that he could see me. Luckily, I didn't find anything, so I took out my primary item. It was… a can of spray paint.

To the naked eye, this is just a can of spray paint. But, for me, this has helped me win almost every one of my battles. See, I have this little ability that allows me to see into the future. The only drawback is that I can only see it through my drawings and paintings. That's why paint is my primary "weapon" of choice. And, since they don't have an actual name, I just call my paint supplies "The Seekers."

So, activating my little ability, I started to spray paint the wall. It's weird, I always have to close my eyes when I do this, it just makes it feel more natural. I can do it with my eyes open, but it just doesn't feel as authentic.

After a solid four minutes of spraying the wall, I opened my eyes, feeling that I had all my required information in front of me. I looked at the fairly large mural I created, ranging in an oddly large color pallet, considering I only used one bottle, and it was black. Anyways, after looking at the picture for about three minutes, the future already began to take hold on situation.

 _First picture in progress. Thank you future for seeing me through this._ The first picture I drew was one of James at a high point on a building, shooting precisely three rounds, one in the wall corner of where I was, one that would shoot right next to my face after I look over, and the third nicking my leg as I run to a building.

Continuing my fate, I turned my head over the corner of where I was hiding, checking to see where James was. As soon as the round shot me next to my face, I pulled my head back behind my shelter.

Standing up and gathering all my items I dropped, I readied myself to run to the next building. I took a running position, putting on a face that said, "I'm ready to get shot while running." Luckily, it was just a straightaway from here to about 7 buildings down. The only problem was that there were relatively large gaps between the buildings.

 _Oh, for pete's sake, stop procrastinating and RUN!_ I shook my head and began to run.

I ran past the first gap without a hitch. Same with the second through fifth. The sixth building was where problems began to arise. As I sprinted across the open field, I failed to notice that I was being tracked. Each shot he made was simply a practice for hitting me.

However, by the time the bullet came close to me, I dropped to my knees and slid to the safe-point, reenacting a show-style slide across the floor, dodging the bullet just barely. As I came to a halt from my slide, I watched as the bullet that had just missed me now exploded in the landscape behind me, sending a gush of air past me.

"Oh, I forgot how that feels. It's nice." I said in excitement.

"Did I get you?!" I heard James yell from across the battlefield.

"Nope, good try though."

After saying that, I sporadically ran across the remaining buildings. I reached the end of them and I was finally at a tall enough building for what I needed to do. From my coat, I took out a few different spray cans. I shook them up, looking at the blank wall in front of me. Smirking, I close my eyes and begin to make my piece of "work," spraying wherever I felt it necessary with the different cans I had available.

After I felt I was finished, I opened my eyes and saw a rather large mural, depicting me and James, in what looks to be the final moments of our battle.

[Well, what's the point in spoiling the end of the chapter? That would make it boring.]

Smirking, I took my blue spray paint and sprayed over the final thing, making sure to cover every part of the thing, until you would no longer tell what the picture was supposed to be.

Putting the cans back into my jacket, I began running away from the building wall, into a section of bushes which connected to the "park" of the city. After entering it, I found myself in an open area of it, leaving myself open from all points around me.

Looking through the trees, I pushed my vulnerability past me, looking for one building in particular. Once I found it however, a bullet came flying at me, directly from the building in favor. Rather than moving to dodge it, I stood it head on, squinting my eyes to spot where it came from. Approaching me, I felt it whizz past my cheek and explode behind my back, dropping my HP from 187 to 237. After it hit me, I ran in the direction of the building, moving my head to evade the flying bullets coming for me, each making an exaggerated explosion behind me.

I reached the base of the building in no time at all, seeing as I was running and it was close in distance. Looking up, I saw that it was a many stories high, drawing my attention to the possibility of higher-story traps that would collapse the floor. Taking a closer look, I found that James was actually at the edge of the building, probably looking for me after losing his track in the trees in the park.

Smirking, I went into my jacket and pulled out a pistol with the lettering of **Цветные Пули** on the handle of it. I looked forward, pointing my gun directly above my head, firing it into the air, waiting to hear the sound of a health bar going down. After a few seconds, I heard it, signaling me to begin running through the building, keeping an eye out for any bombs.

It wasn't long before I reached the top, resulting in me opening the roof door, only to find no one there. I went over to the edge of the roof to see if I could spot James running out of the building, in case I missed him while running up. I was knocked from my gaze when I heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

"Well, I thought I missed something." I said, turning around to face James. "I probably should have shot you a few times."

With a serious face on, James responded, "I don't know how you did it kid, but you managed to acquire a gun that does a significant amount of damage to someone." I looked over to James' health bar while he continued talking to find that it was down to 916/1496. Smiling a bit, I looked slightly past James, finding exactly what I hopped he would have strapped to his back. "And now that you're up here-"

"Oh my god, would you shut up already." I blurted out, interrupting James' statement. "Seriously, if you're going to kill someone," I paused, pulling my gun from it's holster from behind my back. "either do it immediately," I paused again, pulling the trigger a few times, firing fast bullets at James. Out of instinct, James turned his back away, protecting his face. However, James wasn't my target, seeing as I missed most bullets.

Looking around him, James let out a hearty laugh, while I just stood there smiling. "Ha, you really a funny one kid. Now, I do believe this is the part where you die." He said, pulling his FN Five-Seven from his holster.

"Hey, you didn't let me finish." I said, getting up and standing up on the edge of the building. "You either do it immediately, or you make a show out of it." After I made this statement, I began to lean back off the building. In that instance, I pulled my hand up and fired it, aiming out of intuition at his feet, where my true target lied. "And now, the big finale."

As I began my descent down the side of the building, a massive explosion would be seen and heard from the top of the building, signaling who had won the battle. Smiling while falling, I went behind my back and grabbed my other secondary weapon, which was a custom sword I had manufactured. Right before I hit the ground, I stuck my sword into the side of the building, halting my fall.

Kicking off the wall with my sword in hand, I landed on the ground and looked up at the sky while holstering all my weapons. I smiled as I saw the "You Won" sign go up above my head. Closing my eyes, I begin to feel myself transported back to the basement of FATB.

Opening my eyes, I was met with the eyes of all my patrons and the many mouths left ajar.

"Well," I heard Lenny say, bringing everyone's attention to the center of the ring. "for those of you who couldn't tell, Francis is our big winner." I stood up, waving my hand in the air, smiling. "Sorry to everyone that lost some money, but we appreciate everyone's donations nonetheless. That concludes our shows for today. Apply at the front desk on the main floor to be notified of when our next show is, and I hope you all have a splendid day."

With that, Lenny tossed the microphone he had in the air, making it disappear mid fall. He grabbed my shoulder and we began to walk over to the exit where James was standing, still left in awe at the outcome.

"B-But how? How can someone like me be fucked over by someone like you?"

Lenny and I looked at each other, smirking at the reality of it all. Lenny was the first to speak between the two of us. "Well, since you're new, I guess you didn't know this yet, but-"

"Everything here has a facade. Whether you wipe it away yourself or have someone else do it, not everything is as it seems here. And by the way," I said, patting James on the back. "Thanks for the warm-up. I really needed it."

Lenny and I began to walk past him, chuckling to ourselves as James just sat there, motionless.

* * *

 **Francis: Ha, fuck you James.**

 **Siel: You truly are a savage.**

 **Francis: *cracks neck* That's the kind of material you gotta be made out of to survive in GGO.**

 **Codex: *chuckles***

 **Siel: What's so funny?**

 **Codex: Nothing. At least, nothing of your concern, yet. You said you liked this story?**

 **Siel: Hell yeah.**

 **Codex: *winks at Francis***

 **Francis: *gets annoyed and rolls eyes***

 **Codex: Wait until next chapter, it'll be interesting.**

 **Siel: I'm scared now.**

 **Codex: Have fun with that.**

 **Francis: ...Well, later everyone. See you next chapter.**


End file.
